F1 in Schools STEM challenge comes to Toowoomba

THE University of Southern Queensland will host a major event next month with teams travelling across the State to race their miniature Formula 1 cars.

Designed and built by high school students, these miniature F1 cars are the size of a standard school ruler but can potentially reach speeds in excess of 80km/h.

The F1 in Schools™ STEM Challenge is managed in Australia by Re-Engineering Australia Foundation and the National Sponsor is the Australian Government Department of Defence.

The challenge is the world's largest and most technically complex secondary school STEM competition involving over nine million students from 17 thousand schools in 44 countries.

USQ Toowoomba will host the 2016 Queensland State Final on October 13-14 and more than 100 Years 8-10 students from schools around the state are expected to compete.

USQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Jan Thomas will open the event and said she looked forward to welcoming the competition to the University.

"These young teams have been designing, building and testing their miniature F1 cars, but this competition goes beyond the required engineering prowess," Professor Thomas said.

"This challenge has honed their skills in leadership, team building, project management, business planning, public speaking, marketing, collaboration, writing, presentation and entrepreneurialism."

Professor Thomas said a team of USQ academics will form the judging panel, including experts from a range of related fields such as mechanical engineering and marketing.

"It is sure to be an exciting and fun day for all involved."

The winning Queensland teams will go forward to compete in the National Final early next year for a shot at representing Australia at the 2017 World Finals. QMI Solutions will assist with the delivery of the Queensland State Finals.